KARACHI: Reserves held by the State Bank of Pakistan plunged by $463 million to $10.723 billion during the week ended on April 3.

The decline was attributed to external debt repayments of $465m.

After witnessing a consistent increase in SBP’s foreign currency stocks from the end of September 2019 for almost six months, reserves started declining from the beginning of March.

Over the past four weeks, the SBP reserves have dwindled by almost $2bn, putting pressure on its ability to service debt, which could stand at around $12bn by the end of 2019-20.

The latest fall took the country’s overall forex reserves down by $399m to $16.988bn even as holdings of the commercial banks rose by $63.8m.

Rupee makes modest recovery

With SBP’s foreign currency stocks depleting, the rupee has also come under pressure. Compared to the March 6 value of Rs154.2 against the dollar, it has lost almost Rs13 to date.

However, the rupee witnessed a slight recovery on Thursday, as the dollar slid back 57 paisas to reach Rs167.19, from earlier day’s value of Rs167.76.

Published in Dawn, April 10th, 2020